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Euro 2016: Referee Clattenburg handed France v Portugal final

England’s Mark Clattenburg will complete an unprecedented refereeing treble in Paris on Sunday.

Much-fancied: Clattenburg (middle) was widely considered as the favourite to officiate the final for his fine performances throughout the tournbament (Picture from BBC)

ENGLISH referee Mark Clattenburg will take charge of the Euro 2016 Final between France and Portugal, Uefa has confirmed.

The 41-year-old has been appointed as the referee on Sunday when the host nation contest the showpiece against the Euro 2004 runners-up at the Stade de France in Paris (KO 20:00 BST).

Clattenburg – who regularly officiates high-profile Premier League games – completes an unlikely and remarkable treble in the space of two months after handling the FA Cup and Champions League finals respectively.

However, the recognition is fully deserved for the Newcastle-based whistler, who has performed to a high standard so far in his three games at the tournament – his first major international finals as a referee.

He will be ably assisted again in the French capital by linesmen Simon Beck and Jake Collin, and additional assistants Anthony Taylor and Andre Marriner.

It also means Taylor has completed an unprecedented quadruple of being the only additional assistant referee to officiate at all four of Uefa’s major finals – Champions League, Europa League, Euros and Super Cup.

The fourth official will be Hungary’s Viktor Kassai – who handled the tournament opener and was also fourth official for May’s Champions League Final – while fellow countryman Gyorgy Ring will be on standby as the reserve assistant.

Third in line: Arthur Ellis in 1960 and Arthur Holland four years later are the only other English referees to have handled a European Championship final (Picture from BBC)

Clattenburg is hugely supported and highly rated by Uefa’s head of referees Pierluigi Collina but is thought to be largely out of favour with the English Football Association, who don’t think he is the country’s leading official.

But David Elleray, the FA Referees’ Committee chairman, believes the appointment is deserved and his “astonishing” achievements highlight that England is the number one country in international refereeing terms.

He said: “One of the reasons that English referees are appointed to the world’s major finals is that they work as part of a very strong referee team – no referee can be successful without top quality assistants and, for Uefa competitions, additional assistant referees.

“I am sure everyone in football will wish Mark and his team every success on Sunday – I am sure they will perform in a way which enhances the final.”

The trained electrician – who supports Newcastle United – has a wealth of experience of high-profile encounters having refereed the 2012 League Cup Final, 2012 Olympic men’s football gold medal match, 2013 Community Shield and 2014 Uefa Super Cup.

The only potential obstacles preventing Clattenburg from being appointed was England – who were dumped out by minnows Iceland in the last 16 – and Wales.

He appears to have beaten off competition from Kassai, Milorad Mazic of Serbia, and Slovenia’s Damir Skomina – the only other referees remaining at the tournament who did not receive a semi-final.

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